Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both live in New York state but are "a world apart" when it comes to their views and experience, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday during a less-than-prime-time speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention.
The mayor, who was slow to endorse Clinton during the Democratic presidential primary race, contrasted the party nominee's life in public service with the business career of Trump, the Republican nominee, whom he called "the great pretender" and dismissed as a selfish billionaire who doesn't care about working Americans.
"Hillary Clinton has taken on the tough battles for one reason: because standing up for those without much money and without much power has been her life calling," said de Blasio, who managed Clinton's successful 2000 U.S. Senate campaign.
In contrast, "Donald Trump is reckless. He's risky. He's wrong, and he's scary," de Blasio said.
In November, Trump tweeted that de Blasio, who's serving his first term in City Hall, was "the worst mayor in the U.S., & probably the worst mayor in the history of #NYC."
De Blasio's 5:30 p.m. address came as many delegates were eating dinner or otherwise preparing for prime-time speakers including President Barack Obama.
De Blasio's frequent political rival Gov. Andrew Cuomo, also a Democrat, is expected to address the convention Thursday.
Local
Sources involved in the DNC planning tell NBC 4 New York Cuomo was disappointed that a video tribute to his late father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, was played Monday night when Andrew was not at the arena.
Convention sources said the governor or his aides repeatedly called planners to request the DNC replay the Mario Cuomo tribute video before his speech.
A Cuomo staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity said there was a miscommunication but he was honored nevertheless by the tribute to Mario Cuomo.
Mario Cuomo's 1984 keynote speech is considered one of the DNC's finest. He reminded Democrats of their credo, saying, "We believe in a single fundamental idea... what a proper government should be: the idea of family, mutuality, the sharing of benefits and burdens for the good of all, feeling one another's pain, sharing one another's blessings — reasonably, honestly, fairly, without respect to race, or sex, or geography, or political affiliation."
Melissa Russo contributed to this report
